H.R. 4240

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4240 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4240

To establish certain reporting and other requirements relating to 
telecommunications equipment and services produced or provided by 
certain entities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 27, 2025

Mr. Moskowitz (for himself and Mrs. Radewagen) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To establish certain reporting and other requirements relating to 
telecommunications equipment and services produced or provided by 
certain entities, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Countering Untrusted 
Telecommunications Abroad Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the national security of the United States is affected 
by the telecommunications security of United States allies, 
partners, and other countries around the globe;
(2) the importance of mobile and internet services makes 
such services tempting and effective tools for malign influence 
and economic coercion;
(3) Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation (and 
any subsidiary or affiliate of either such entity) should not 
serve as a vendor of telecommunications equipment or services 
given the close ties to, and control over, such entities by the 
People's Republic of China; and
(4) it is in the economic and national security interests 
of the United States to ensure that countries around the globe 
use trusted telecommunications equipment or services.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON UNTRUSTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES IN 
COUNTRIES WITH COLLECTIVE DEFENSE AGREEMENT WITH UNITED 
STATES.

(a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for two years, the 
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Communications and Information, shall submit to the 
Committees on Foreign Affairs and Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Foreign Relations and Commerce, 
Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the prevalence of 
untrusted telecommunications equipment or services in the networks of 
United States allies and partners.
(b) Matters.--The report under subsection (a) shall enumerate each 
United States ally or partner with respect to which the United States 
has entered into a collective defense agreement and include, for each 
such country, the following:
(1) A description of the presence, or lack thereof, of 
untrusted telecommunications equipment or services in any 5G 
network of the country.
(2) If any untrusted telecommunications equipment or 
service is present in such a network--
(A) an enumeration of any mobile carriers that are 
using the untrusted telecommunications equipment or 
service present, and any mobile carriers that are not;
(B) a determination of whether the untrusted 
telecommunications equipment or service present is in 
the core or periphery of the network; and
(C) any plans by the United States ally or partner, 
or the individual mobile carrier, to rip and replace 
the untrusted telecommunications equipment or service 
present with a trusted telecommunications equipment or 
service.
(3) A description of any plans by network operators to use 
untrusted communications equipment or services in the 
deployment of Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology, 
or any successor to such technology, or in future 6G networks.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON COVERED TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT OR SERVICES IN 
UNITED STATES EMBASSIES.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Comptroller General of the United States has 
reported that 23 percent of all telecommunications device 
manufacturers of the Department of State have at least one 
supplier reported to be headquartered in the People's Republic 
of China or the Russian Federation.
(2) The Comptroller General has reported that four percent 
of all telecommunications contractors of the Department of 
State have at least one supplier reported to be headquartered 
in the People's Republic of China.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 
consultation with the heads of such other departments and 
agencies as the Secretary determines necessary, shall submit to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate a report containing an assessment of the use of covered 
telecommunications equipment or services in United States 
embassies and by United States embassy staff and personnel.
(2) Matters.--The report under paragraph (1) shall include 
information on the following:
(A) The status of the implementation by the 
Secretary of State of the prohibition under subsection 
(a)(1) of section 889 of the John S. McCain National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public 
Law 115-232; 132 Stat. 1917; 41 U.S.C. 3901 note prec.) 
with respect to equipment, systems, and services used 
at United States embassies, including--
(i) an identification of the United States 
embassies with respect to which the Secretary 
has implemented such prohibition, and an 
identification of those with respect to which 
the Secretary has not implemented such 
prohibition, if any;
(ii) an identification of any difficulties 
that have delayed the implementation of such 
prohibition by the Secretary with respect to 
United States embassies, such as visibility 
into supply chains, costs of equipment 
replacement, and plans for timely remediation;
(iii) information on any waivers that have 
been granted to an entity under subsection (d) 
of such section 889 for equipment, systems, or 
services used at United States embassies, 
including a justification of why each waiver 
was granted and any other information required 
pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) of such 
subsection; and
(iv) for any entity that has sought a 
waiver specified in clause (iii), the 
implementation status of the phase-out plan of 
the entity submitted by the entity pursuant to 
subsection (d) of such section 889.
(B) Information regarding the extent to which the 
digital devices of United States embassy staff and 
personnel are serviced by Huawei Technologies Company 
or ZTE Corporation (or any subsidiary or affiliate of 
either such entity), or any other entity headquartered 
in the People's Republic of China, and an assessment of 
the likelihood of the intelligence services of the 
People's Republic of China gaining access to the 
contents and data of the digital devices used by United 
States embassy personnel as a result of any such 
servicing.
(C) Any other information regarding ongoing efforts 
to safeguard the communications security of United 
States embassies.
(3) Form.--The report under paragraph (1) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
annex.

SEC. 5. SUPPORTING TRUSTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, 
shall select for the provision of support under this section 
telecommunications infrastructure projects that have the potential, as 
determined by the Secretary, to promote the national security of the 
United States and meet such other requirements as the Secretary may 
prescribe.
(b) Diplomatic and Political Support.--The Secretary of State shall 
provide to each project selected under subsection (a), as appropriate, 
diplomatic and political support, including by using the diplomatic and 
political influence and expertise of the Department of State to build 
the capacity of countries to resolve any impediments to the development 
of the project.
(c) Early Stage Project Support.--The Director of the United States 
Trade and Development Agency should provide, as appropriate, early-
stage project support with respect to projects selected under 
subsection (a).

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Covered telecommunications equipment or service; 
untrusted telecommunications equipment or service.--The terms 
``covered telecommunications equipment or service'' and 
``untrusted telecommunications equipment or service'' have the 
meaning given to the term ``covered communications equipment or 
service'' in section 9 of the Secure and Trusted Communications 
Network Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608).
(2) Trusted telecommunications equipment or service.--The 
term ``trusted telecommunications equipment or service'' means 
any telecommunications equipment or service that is not a 
covered telecommunications equipment or service.
<all>